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'Dragon Dictation' Brings Voice Transcription to the iPhone
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Much ado about nothing as far as Nuance and your contact info.
It clearly says that it is collecting contact names. It's not getting emails, phone numbers, addresses, etc.
It's rather obvious it does this to improve the accuracy of the app's transcriptions. They assume the proper names you're more likely to use will be in your contacts list, so I imagine having the names available makes the app's job a bit easier.
It clearly says that it is collecting contact names. It's not getting emails, phone numbers, addresses, etc.
It's rather obvious it does this to improve the accuracy of the app's transcriptions. They assume the proper names you're more likely to use will be in your contacts list, so I imagine having the names available makes the app's job a bit easier.
Local or remote analyzation?
iLounge is reporting that the dictation is done locally on your device, not sent to a server: "Unlike other text transcription apps, Dragon Dictation performs its text-to-speech conversion entirely on the iPhone using the well-known Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition technology rather than relying on the speech to be uploaded to an online service for transcription." http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/mix-where-to-bento-dragon-dictate-phatnotes/
So where is MacRumors getting their information that the voice data is sent to a server? Maybe the only thing that's sent are our contact names. And who is correct, MacRumors or iLounge?
-Brian
iLounge is reporting that the dictation is done locally on your device, not sent to a server: "Unlike other text transcription apps, Dragon Dictation performs its text-to-speech conversion entirely on the iPhone using the well-known Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition technology rather than relying on the speech to be uploaded to an online service for transcription." http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/mix-where-to-bento-dragon-dictate-phatnotes/
So where is MacRumors getting their information that the voice data is sent to a server? Maybe the only thing that's sent are our contact names. And who is correct, MacRumors or iLounge?
-Brian
Beat me to it. The recognition engine will rely on matching speech against a word dictionary; rather than having every possible proper name in every possible language, much easier to have a custom dictionary extension for each user containing the proper names in their contacts list
Well I turned on Airplane mode, tried it and it failed saying there was no internet connection.
...does it matter? who cares if they get your contacts names. Its not like they are going to call you up or call your gf that you are cheating on and let her know all of these girls names.
and apple's approval process (which everyone complains is too strict) tested this app and felt it was safe.
I don't know, but everyone else is reporting that it IS being sent over to a server, including Nuance themselves (from a TUAW article):
"Search queries and dictation requests are transcribed by fully automated speech recognition software, without the use of humans. Data is uploaded and collected in order to improve performance for individual users, and to improve the general performance of the system.
All speech recognition requests and associated data are processed in data centers in the U.S. that meet stringent security and privacy standards; these are the same standards that we use for processing private information in other areas of our business."
All of these sites state the same:
http://9to5mac.com/EULA-nuance-contacts-543634
http://www.tuaw.com/2009/12/08/dragon-dictation-comes-to-the-iphone-wow/
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2009/12/nuance_launchin.html
Plus, look at your icon in the upper left hand corner. Data is being sent. Or better yet, try it without an internet connection. It just won't work. Sorry, it's not done locally, it's over "The Internets."
Why would a software engineering firm with some of the best technology and products harvest contact records and sell them? You think that's the business they are in?
Google- Make 99% revenue from advertising. It's a pure marketing firm. Better they know the user, rather more personal data collected, the better Google can target users with ads to make money.
Google Voice? Does Google make money from charging for that? It's free. Why does Google offer it? It's a goldmine of data. Voicemail transcription is paid for by the information Google collects in transcription. All Google's services are free in terms of price, but the user pays for them by allowing Google to track activities, locations, communications, etc.
Nuance Dragon- Generates revenue from selling software-- expensive software. Personal information has no value to them. While this app may be free now, it won't be for too long.
Reason for contacts upload is just for names because they are impossible to transcribe to multiple pronunciations and spellings.
Dang, I really liked the idea of being in a subway tunnel, in a poor-reception building or just in a basement and still being able to use this. My next question is whether it will store recorded audio like Shazam until it can transmit it, or will it just throw away your speaking.
-Brian
This app works great! I've been watching Dragon produce their dictation software for years, but this is very impressive, especially with no "training" to do.
Their "uploading" of names to their servers is not deemed to steal your identity, just to add a further service. Everyone needs to take their aluminum foil hats off and chill out.
Their "uploading" of names to their servers is not deemed to steal your identity, just to add a further service. Everyone needs to take their aluminum foil hats off and chill out.
Reason for contact upload
I don't know if anyone said his or not, as I didn't read the whole thread.
There is a good reason why they grab your contact list. The speech recognition is done on their servers. As a result, they need to upload your contact names (names only) so the recognition algorithms can match against them. I don't think they are trying to pull a fast one here...
I don't know if anyone said his or not, as I didn't read the whole thread.
There is a good reason why they grab your contact list. The speech recognition is done on their servers. As a result, they need to upload your contact names (names only) so the recognition algorithms can match against them. I don't think they are trying to pull a fast one here...
I don't know why thenYou could send a comment to the devs, maybe they'll add that in the future.
Sent an email stating that the Touch does have recording capability and wifi connectivity while asking what restrictions hardware wise limit the app to the iPhone.
Let's hope I get a fairly clear and reasonable answer.
Is there some compelling reason why a voice transcription app deserves MacRumors Front Page status, rather than on the iPhone page where this type of thing would normally reside?
supposedly, this application loads you contact list onto their server, so for those of you that have privacy in mind, be aware.
I could see that. What better way to make sure they get commonly used name spelled correctly?
Dragon Naturally Speaking is quite accurate and prices are very reasonable for a professional. I'm a translator and it's a very useful tool when my wrists ache for too much typing.
I look forward to seeing the iPhone app in the Italian store, too.
Well, if it makes you feel any better, in the agreement they explicitly limit themselves to using the contact info and speech data to improve speech recognition. They also explicitly state they will not use the information to contact anyone for any reason.
When you are correcting someone, it is usually better to be correct yourself, rather than "correcting" someone with incorrect information
a neat solution could be to give the user a choice whether to upload the contacts list or not to. those who feel ok with their contacts list on the company's servers could tick 'yes', those who are worried about this could tick 'no'.
FUD... why not quote the whole agreement? It's not all roses and sunshine, but you're cherry-picking phases which makes it sound much worse than it actually is.
No Thanks! This app takes all your contacts and puts them onto their servers without giving the user the option to choose which contacts or groups, or even which fields!!! Some people may have sensitive personal/private information in their contacts and notes fields. Further, they can pass your contacts to third parties! It says right in their agreement.
NO AGREEMENT.
Where is Apple in approving abominational behaving applications like this?!?!
NO AGREEMENT.
Where is Apple in approving abominational behaving applications like this?!?!
straight from Nuance
http://blog.dragonmobileapps.com/2009/12/what-dragon-dictation-for-iphone-does.html
while i agree there should be an 'opt out', i think most people need to relax.
http://blog.dragonmobileapps.com/2009/12/what-dragon-dictation-for-iphone-does.html
while i agree there should be an 'opt out', i think most people need to relax.
This is certainly a must-have app.
I think this also shows that it's time for Apple to open up the iPhone API a bit wider to be able to hook into SMS and other areas without the somewhat clunky cut/paste workaround. Additionally a notification drawer/system needs to be implemented.
I think this also shows that it's time for Apple to open up the iPhone API a bit wider to be able to hook into SMS and other areas without the somewhat clunky cut/paste workaround. Additionally a notification drawer/system needs to be implemented.
No Thanks! This app takes all your contacts and puts them onto their servers without giving the user the option to choose which contacts or groups, or even which fields!!! Some people may have sensitive personal/private information in their contacts and notes fields. Further, they can pass your contacts to third parties! It says right in their agreement.
NO AGREEMENT.
Where is Apple in approving abominational behaving applications like this?!?!
um, well since it's only doing names personal/private information in the NOTES field or other fields is a moot point.